Celadon quail genetics

kigon

In the Brooder
Feb 10, 2016
6
8
32
Hi! Another question from someone who understands 0 genetics but likes to dream!!

If a pearl or falb-fee gets crossed with a wild coloured blue-laying (celadon) hen, could there be pearl/falb-fee offspring that lays blue eggs? Or does that require another few generations of hidden gene shenanigans? (Or maybe it's not even possible? )
I don't think I've ever seen a pearl/falb blue laying hen..

Thanks!
 
Hello! Welcome to the site!

Im not really very well versed in genetics either but its my understanding the CE gene is very reccesive and that means alot of back crossing and little genetic diversity. The same goes with some of the nicer colors and patterns and that could make it a hard project to work with. However. It might be doable if you spent years on the breeding project.
 
I’m no quail expert but it should be possible to breed the fee gene in. Only one copy of the fee gene is needed for expression and it is easily passed on.

Step 1: You would need to breed a 2 copy celadon gene male (who hatched from a blue egg and also had a father who hatched from a blue egg) to the Fee females.

Step 2: Keep all Fee female offspring, which will lay normal brown speckled eggs but each should be carrying one copy of the celadon gene. Breed these Fee female offspring to a celadon male carrying 2 copies of the celadon gene.

Step 3: Hatch their standard looking eggs. Keep all Fee females from that hatch. Around half of those Fee females will lay blue eggs. These are your breeders. (Keep hatching from these parents to get more breeders.)

Step 4: Breed blue egg laying Fee females to known celadon males carrying 2 copies of the celadon gene to create 100% celadon layers where 50% or more chicks hatch out Fee and continue breeding from there. You’ll need to breed in fresh celadon genetics from time to time but the fee gene will be readily passed on. You can add new, unrelated celadon females most easily - their egg color guarantees their genetics - and use a celadon fee Roo that you hatched yourself to continue the project.

I’m currently at step 1 of this breeding project. It requires keeping 2 separate pens of birds: Fee females with a celadon male in one pen and all celadons in another pen.

In the all celadon pen you continue breeding celadon to celadon to “set” your males with 2 copies of the gene. When all females in every generation are laying celadon, you know their brothers are also carrying 2 copies. You want these males to breed to the Fee females.

It takes a minimum of 4 generations or about 1 year for this project to produce 100% celadon laying coturnix who hatch out 50-85% Fee. (You’ll always get an oddball color hatch out now and then but most people like that!) It will also take good record keeping. I use non toxic washable Crayola markers to mark chicks and non toxic liquid watercolor to mark birds so I can keep track.

Once you have 100% celadon layers hatching mostly Fee chicks, you’re ready to market your hatching eggs and chicks. Price accordingly. Pearl (Italian Fee) females who lay a blue egg are going to be your most valuable. Italian celadons are a bit more rare so if you get one, keep him or her as a breeder for life. Most celadons seem to be Tibetan, Tibetan Tuxedo and English White in my limited experience. I’m hypothesizing I’ll end up with Grau Fee (Tibetan + Fee) birds as the most likely fee offspring, Falb Fee (Pharaoh + Fee) second and Pearl as the most rare.
 
Additional Project:

Once you are breeding 100% 2 gene carrying celadon males with Fee genes, use one Celadon Falb Fee male (or even better, a Pearl celadon male) over standard Italian females and repeat the entire process, selecting for only Pearl females to create Pearl celadon quail.

Another year would be needed for this breeding project and the birds would be quite rare, making them valuable.
 
This was an older post, but a good question either way.

the hard part is getting a male who has 2 copies of the recessive celadon gene. If a hen lays blue, she has 2 copies of the gene, the only ways to know if a male has 2 copies is if it came from somewhere that has only males who have 2 copies, or if you breed it to a celadon hen and all hens produced lay blue, and you would need 100% of a good amount of hens to lay blue to be certain.

So once you have your celadon roo, you want to cross the fee into your line. The fee gene is dominant, but 2 copies has a different look, I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe they have less hints of red, brown, and gold. If you cross the fee to celadon hens, the resulting eggs will all carry celadon but not lay blue eggs, but if the fee had one copy, half will be fee, and 2 copies, all will be fee. You take a fee that carries Celadon and cross it back to the celadons and you will get half fees, and half the hens will lay blue, you take the blue laying fee hens and cross them to your celadon roo, and bam, 100% celadon, and half will be fee.
 

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